Extended scenes near the end (Beastly the movie)
by EmeraldChicken
Summary: Beastly the Movie, a side story of Kyle experiencing a night of flashing pain as a side effect of Kendra’s curse. When another white rose tattoo magically blooms on his wrist it causes fiery pain and more ugly scars. Lindy finds him on the couch late that night, comforts him, and watching tv together things start to romatically heat up.
1. chapter 1

Kyle stood on the rooftop watching the sun set over the busy city. He felt his stomach turn with anxiety as he looked down at the bush of white roses tattooed unwillingly on his left wrist. Another white rose had formed. The second to last one. After that was final one... and he would be doomed to stay like this _forever._ He heaved a big sigh, swallowed and turned the volume way up on the music playing on his head phones. Sometimes the music blasting would distract him... making him temporarily forget about so many unpleasant aspects of his current situation.

He really despised it having a mind of its own - it just suddenly making a bloom fill in an empty area of that involuntary tattoo. Even each petal that appeared in the flower on his skin always felt weird like an annoying fly crawling on his skin that he could not swat away. Each white rose that fully bloomed brought an unfortunate side effect with Kendra's terrible curse. Whenever a white rose was done blooming, without fail, he would always have a horrible night that followed with intermittent searing jabs of pain flashing across his skin in random places. It also filled him with this horrible feeling of dread that he was that much closer to being out of time.

 _Damn_ , he hated it. He had never said anything to Zola or Will about the pain strikes that came after the roses apearing on his wrist. He especially didn't want Lindy to find out. Nobody would understand. He just hid and tried to survive the night of pain without waking any of them. At first, he tried to call out to Kendra begging her to make it stop. She could not help, though, or give him any relief. It was useless. It just was what it was, and he was doomed to suffer through it each time. _Magic cannot be undone..._ were her words that continued to echo through his head.

He didn't want to tell Zola or Will for fear that they might push him into going to some doctor or hospital. He hated hospitals. His Dad had taken him to see so many doctors at countless hospitals where the testing, poking, and prodding got old really quick. They were always interested in exploring his strange condition but never had any solutions. No one likes to feel like a medical guinea pig...he had had enough of that humiliation.

The first night a rose happened on his wrist, he remembered laying in bed alone that night and there were streaks of pain that lashed at his body like random lightning strikes. Then he realized that it was all related to Kendra's stupid curse. He _knew_ because after the flashes of pain subsided, he felt a new, strange, tingling sensation remaining on his skin in that spot. He would put his hand down on that spot to touch it, only to realize in anguish when he looked at it closer that yet another ugly scar had appeared...as if he didn't have enough already.

His only comfort was that at least the additional scarring happened on his back, chest, shoulders or legs... places where he could hide it with clothing. At least the new ones were not more to add on his already _wretched_ , _mangled_ _face._ It was bad enough his face already looked like a creepy character from some twisted horror flick. He still felt such utter disbelief that after Lindy first saw it, she only told him she had seen worse.

Sometimes when Will was teaching without his red lense glasses on, Kyle would watch his broken eyes stray off in weird directions. Those times made him wonder if it really wasn't that bad of his Dad to hire a blind tutor. It was one less of the people in his living space that didn't have to be tortured or disgusted by his hideous appearance every day.

It was ironic that he had so much freedom to do what he wanted not living with his Dad anymore... yet at the same time he felt so caged and restricted. He could go out whenever he wanted, yet he felt so caged in by hiding under his black hood and constantly dodging the stares of others. He could ride his motorcycle all he wanted, yet who was there to go see when he was caged inside his ugly walls of skin.

Later that evening, everyone was gathered around the dinner table. Zola had made a delicious chicken curry dish with rice for dinner. But Kyle could only manage to eat a couple bites. He didn't have much to say and had no appetite. He pushed the food around his plate nervously with his fork. Her cooking had always been so good yet he had always acted like such a spoiled ass brat to her - never even thanking her once. It was pathetic he had never once shown a bit of gratitude to her in all the years she served them.

Kyles eyes drifted from Zola to resting on Lindy for a few moments. She was chattering happily with Will about an intense scene in their current reading material of Shakespeare's MacBeth. He could not focus on their reading today. Waiting for a conversation pause, Kyle tapped his foot and finally said,

"Zola, um, thank you for the dinner. I'm uh, I'm going to bed early tonight. Goodnight everyone."

He stood up abruptly and collected his silverware on his plate to take to the kitchen.

Will frowned, cocked his head and asked with a puzzled tone,

"What? Why so early tonight, Hunter?"

Kyle looked down at his feet and heaved a sigh. He didn't respond. He tapped his foot again not sure what to say.

Lindy gulped her mouthful of water and then teased, "No more Korean TV?"

Kyle looked up, half smiled and caught her playful wink. Oh man, how that sounded good to spend more time with her... another round of their silly game making up their own interpretations for Korean tv would be awesome. He wished he could tell her _yes_. He desperately wanted every moment he could to be near her.

But he had no idea how soon the new scars would start flashing and burning across his skin again. It was a consistent pattern he could count on that always struck that night. The sun had been down for a while so it could happen any time now. The sense of dread weighed heavy on him. He replied,

"Maybe tomorrow. I'm uh, not feeling well. I need to just go...sleep it off."

Will raised his water glass and said, "May you return to full health in the morning."

Kyle pushed in his chair, and responded, "Yeah, thanks. Oh and Zola thanks again for the food."

Zola frowned and responded,

"You no want dessert? I make cake. You no want piece of cake? Stay. Have piece of cake with us."

Kyle shook his head declining the offer, "No. Not tonight, thanks though. I gotta go," and quickly headed out. As he hurriedly exited the room, Lindy flashed him a big smile and said to everyone with a mischievous tone,

"Well, I'll eat his piece of cake."

As Kyle loaded his dishes into the dishwasher, he again felt the lingering pang in his heart to spend more time with Lindy. He heald on to the image of her sparkling brown eyes and mischievous smile. The mental snapshot would comfort him tonight. If only these stupid roses wouldn't cause him such a torturous and miserable night. It was bad enough he felt so short on time left for her to possibly say _I love you_.

He didn't need this stupid side effect of the curse eating up what little time he had left with her. He remembered the IM he saw on her computer last night saying her Machu Pichu trip was only a week from now. The person also asked if she still wanted to run away. Ugh, there just wasn't enough time. Kendra had said she could not extend his time. His time left was shrinking so fast...and it was hard not to let his hope shrink away, too.

Hearing their voices murmuring in the other room, he headed up the stairs wishing he could just push a fast forward button on life to tomorrow and make the night be done already. Suddenly, as his hand gripped the door knob to his bedroom, he felt it start again. Sadly, he had grown familiar with it. He gasped, scrunched his eyes shut, but managed to clench his teeth in a way to stay quiet so they wouldn't hear him down stairs.

 _Right leg this time_. _Damn._ He hopped on his left leg awkwardly through the doorway and then with a shaky hand, shut the door behind him. He limped across the room and collapsed on his bed. He let out a big breath, feeling really relieved he had not waited a moment longer downstairs and had it start in front of them. Waves of fiery pain zapped his skin and quadricep muscles. "AaaH!" he gasped and grabbed his right leg. He buried his cinched up face in his pillow and used it to muffle his voice from the others.

When the pain subsided, he reached a hand down and felt yet another scar that this time had appeared on his right thigh. _Ugh._ Why, Kendra, _why._.. hadn't he suffered enough already? It was almost like he was being punished for not finding someone to tell him _I love you_ soon enough. He punched the mattress in frustration.

The night crawled by agonizingly slow hour by hour as Kyle suffered through the erratic waves of searing pain, squeezing his fists around handfuls of bedsheets or covers and biting his pillow to muffle his cries. He kept checking the time on his phone wishing time to pass quicker. Nothing could hold his attention for long so he had tossed his phone on the bedside table. Suddenly, his text alert chimed.

LINDY: U ok? Headed 2 bed now. Sorry if I woke U.

HUNTER: Still awake. I'm fine. Thx.

LINDY: Streetlamp counts later - walk again or rooftop?

HUNTER: No. Can't. Tomorrow night better. G'night.

LINDY: K. Night night. Feel better soon. : /

KYLE: TY. Night.

He was touched by her kindness of checking up on him. Kyle felt a warm soothing sensation fill his chest as he remembered the previous night together on the roof. He really enjoyed picking her up and carrying her to her bed. He smiled remembering when he was counting the street lights turning off and her head resting on his shoulder. Then her falling asleep on his lap and him touching her hair. He loved touching her. It felt surreal... almost like it didn't really happen at all.

He was so glad she had grown to trust him. _Man,_ how he wished he could be closer to her and feel the amazing sensation of her touch again. He remembered stroking her soft hair and memorizing all the details of her face. There was no doubt now he was in love with her. But the question was, could she love him back?

He relived in his mind the memory of her self initiated touch on his hand after he shared the elephant story at the zoo. All a sudden she had reached out gently took his hand on his lap. It surprised him but he loved it. He remembered staring at it for seconds wondering if it were for real or if he imagined it. An exhilarating feeling had filled his chest and his heart rate soared. She was so accepting of him and listened so sweetly as he shared about his mom leaving. He had never talked to _anyone_ about that... yet she made him feel safe enough to share that sad story buried deep in his heart. He could barely remember his mom now. His Dad always refused to talk about her and he didn't care to push him any further for details. She made her choice and he didn't give a fuck where she was now.

He hadn't realized how touch starved he had become since his terrible transformation. His old girlfriend, Sloane, came to mind and he remembered how she was always all over him. He never thought much about it... other than it made him look desired. His stomach rolled in disgust remembering seeing her her _all over_ his friend at the Halloween party. Then all a sudden, there was _nothing...not even his own father wanted to be near him._

He remembered how his Dad couldn't even look him in the eyes when he last saw him. There was just that last awkward hug before he left him for good in the new place. It even felt like Zola was hesitant to touch him the first week in the new place, too. She would approach him with this fearful look on her face that it would hurt him if she tapped his shoulder or touched his arm. But Lindy acted like it was no big deal. She made him feel like less of a beastly freak and more human. It was a glimmer of hope.

Later that night, when Kyle was nearly a hundred percent sure that everyone was sleeping, he decided to venture downstairs. Sounds of the housemates had settled down to silence, lights were lowered and the regular City sounds from outside became louder than sounds inside their place. His bedroom walls had been feeling more and more like prison walls as the time crawled onward that night.

It was usually a safe bet to assume everyone was in their bedrooms after midnight. Sure enough, everything was dark when he snuck out of his room. He crept downstairs to the kitchen. He fixed himself a large plastic bag of ice and then laid down on the couch in the living room. Sometimes icing the area where the pain flashes would strike would somewhat decrease the burning searing sensation that hit. He grabbed the remote and said a quick prayer he wouldn't come across any reference to his dear old dad on his news tv channel. The thought made his stomach turn with nausea.

He settled on a rerun of an old movie called, Back to the Future 2, when there was nothing else good on any of the other channels. The movie was a pleasant distraction and definitely more entertaining than being stuck in his room. During a scene of Marty McFly purchasing an almanac checking results of major sporting events of the future, Kyle didn't notice that Lindy was in the doorway. She called out quietly, "Hey Hunter."

Kyle was startled and nearly felt himself levitate vertically off the couch when she greeted him. His bag of ice fell to the floor. He quickly grabbed a throw blanket to cover his bare chest. He was only wearing thin sweat pants. "Oh! Lindy, hey um, Hi, I didn't see you there," he stammered awkwardly in response. She walked closer and said, "Sorry to surprise you. I just needed to come downstairs for some water... too many ju ju fruits - ha! Plus I can't sleep."

Kyle's heart rate and breathing was still accelerated but he tried his best to hide it. He said waving toward the kitchen, "It's okay. Yeah, uh, help yourself."

She smiled and headed for the kitchen. After she left the room a pain flash struck him again. _No! Not now._ Left foot. Damn, it hurt on that thin skin. _Go the fuck away._ He winced but tried desperately to conceal it knowing Lindy would be back shortly.

He adjusted the throw blanket trying to hide as much of his hideous chest as he could from her. It was bad enough she had to see his ugly face every day. Kyle stole a glance down to his left foot to investigate the new scar where the strange zapping sensation lingered. His eyes widened when he saw that it was another tattoo with fancy script that said, "Just missed the beauty boat."

He heaved a breath of frustration, shook his head and tried not to swear at Kendra out loud. One more terrible reminder of his lame ass speech from the school election. Ugh...having to see it on his eyebrows everyday was enough. _Embrace the Suck_ right above his eyebrows. He hoped Lindy hadn't noticed. He watched the kitchen doorway carefully knowing Lindy would be back any moment... so he quickly tucked up his bare feet under the throw blanket.

Lindy soon came through the doorway holding a big glass of ice water and flashed him a beautiful smile. If only he could just turn off the tv and watch her instead the rest of the night. She sat on the arm rest of the couch, and asked with a concerned expression,

"You feeling any better?"

Kyle sighed and answered, "I'm getting there. This old time travel movie is a good distraction. I couldn't sleep either."

Lindy looked at the tv until her eyes suddenly lit up with recognition.

"Oh yeah! I love those Back to the Future movies. Okay if I join you?"

Kyle nodded right away and replied, "Sure, of course. But um, let me know if you'd rather get back to watching any Korean tv."

"Ha Ha... no, this is great."

He hoped desperately for no more embarrassing pain strikes while she was there. He just couldn't turn her away. He really wanted her to be close by. She slid down the arm rest and onto the couch cushion next to him.

Lindy sipped her water, watched the movie for a bit and commented, "You know, in my top ten list of cars if I could choose any... I think a DeLorean would definitely be one of them." Kyle chuckled and added, "Oh really? Nice if it could really travel through time... I know I would use it to try and fix some of my past mistakes."

She nodded and said, "Right? Same. All the car would need according to the Doc is..." Lindy paused and then they both said in unison, "One point twenty one jigga Watts," and they both laughed. It was fun they both were familiar with the silly old '80s movie series. One more thing in common.

"So, are you um, feeling super excited that your Machu Pichu trip is so close?"

"Yes! Super excited and maybe a little shock or disbelief it's finally here. It feels surreal when I've been working to get to this point for so long."

"Cool. You deserve it. It seems like you've worked really hard for it."

"Thank you. It _has_ been a lot of work hours but I think it's something I'll never regret doing... I mean, who has a chance to go there that often, you know? Honestly, I'm glad I have a chance to do something for myself for a change... my life has been so focused on taking care of my Dad that it's easy to forget about myself in the process."

"That's one of the things I really like about you... you think and care about others before yourself."

"Aaaw shucks, well thanks, Hunter... I like that about you, too. Obviously, you know I didn't want to be here in the start but I um, I don't feel like running away anymore. Everyone has been so kind to me here. It's really turned out waaay safer than I first thought."

Kyle felt a rush of relief when Lindy mentioned _not_ wanting to run away. He was glad she felt comfortable and wouldn't try to sneak out. For the moment, Kyle was also glad Lindy didn't know he used to be the _selfish_ Kyle Kingston. Kendra was right. He _had_ changed and cared about others now.

Suddenly, another pain strike hit Kyle in his shoulder. "Ah! Ow," he yelped instinctively and grabbed his shoulder.

"Oh my Gosh, Hunter... what's wrong?" Lindy asked frantically.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 _Crap. Not now._ He regretted not leaving the couch. It felt like someone was holding a blowtorch to his shoulder. Kyle heaved a pained breath, blinked hard and tried to reassure Lindy,

"It's... just... just a muscle cramp. It's... it's nothing."

He wondered if he should just go back up to his room. Clenching his teeth, he looked down on the floor below the couch and saw that the bag of ice was still laying there. It had fallen when Lindy had first entered the room earlier and startled him. There was some pooled up melted water around it.

He awkwardly reached and tried to pick it up. His hands shook while he tried to pick it up and keep the throw blanket over his shoulders to conceal his bare chest. She didn't need to see any more of his hideous scars. If only he could just grab it and then leave the room... he could spare himself the embarrassment.

But Lindy jumped into action and came to his aide picking it up before he could reach it. Then she asked,

"Where do you want it?"

He hesitantly pointed to the area on his left shoulder that still burned like whipping flames. She immediately scooted closer to him and gently applied cooling pressure on it with the bag of ice.

"Is this the right spot?" she asked.

He nodded quietly in response and focused on even, deep breathing. He reached up to take over holding the ice bag from her with his other hand... but, damn, his hand was shaking again. Lindy intercepted it with her hand for comfort.

"No. I got it. I don't mind...just try and relax, " she told him with a soothing tone and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "Okay," he said nodding.

 _Was she really holding his shaky hand?_ Her hand felt so strong and so good holding his like a calming anchor. He noticed the shaking stopped. The ice pack she applied started somewhat cooling the burn. Relief. A little... at least. _I'll take it._ This sucked... but sucked a lot less with her at his side. Maybe this wasn't as embarrassing as he feared.

Time passed while Lindy continued to hold Kyle's hand firmly and apply the ice bag with the other. The burning sensation finally subsided. Kyle felt his tense muscles unhinge and relax into the couch. He breathed a sigh of relief it passed now. Her hand in his felt as though it sent healing waves of energy up to the shoulder pain area and extinguished the flames. He was glad he didn't try and leave the room. He loved her being next to him.

Lindy seemed to sense he was better and asked, "Is...it helping?"

He whispered, "Yeah, thanks, Lindy."

"You need me to go find any pain meds?"

He shook his head, "No no no. No thanks. I'll be fine."

He had already tried that in months past with no relief. It was pointless. He remembered when he had begged Kendra for more time in the alley way, and there it was again... her voice again echoing the phrase, "Magic can't be undone." He rolled his eyes at the thought. He didn't deserve all this crap. Well, maybe not all of it. He shuddered at the thought of the ugly person he used to be back at Buckston academy.

Lindy snuggled in closer to his back and rested her head below his neck. She felt so good there. Kyle relaxed into the cushions and felt so glad to have her close. It was unreal she was actually holding his hand and snuggled against his back. He felt like such a nightmarish freak yet somehow here she was... not acting afraid of him, comforting him, trusting him.

Lindy said with a playful tone of voice and gentle nudge,

"You know, maybe you should cut back on carrying girls over zoo walls."

He grinned and remembered carrying her on his back at the zoo wall.

He rolled with the excuse and said, "Ha! You were so worth it." She giggled and thanked him.

No matter what eventually happened, the visit to the zoo last night with her would always be a treasured memory to him. She was so trusting holding onto him and even jumping off the wall landing right into his arms. On that bench with the elephant video, she had listened to him share something so vulnerable and deep in his heart.

As they continued to watch the old rerun movie snuggled together, Kyle noticed the pain waves had completely disappeared. He sure liked the trend of it holding off and wondered if Lindy's touch was helping keep it away. Part of him felt disbelief she was there snuggled next to him. He wondered for a moment if he had fallen asleep earlier and this was all just a dream. If it were a dream, it was the best one ever.

His eyelids began to feel very heavy. The night had drained his energy more than he thought. The moments of relief with Lindy by his side caused his body to relax enough that he actually dozed off to sleep unknowingly. He couldn't keep his eyes open. He collapsed in exhaustion into the couch cushions next to him. Lindy smiled as she felt him melt into the couch and was glad he was finally getting some sleep.

After a while, Lindy noticed the couch throw blanket wrapped over his shoulders had slid down. His hands had relaxed and released his grip of it when he fell asleep. The tattoos and scar lines on his back shoulders became more visible. She let go of his other relaxed hand and put the bag of ice on the coffee table. He kept on sleeping and didn't stir when she moved. She took a sip of her water and found that her eyes wanted to look at him more than the TV. She liked looking at him asleep. It was nice to see him look so peaceful instead of restless and hurting.

It was her turn to tuck him in as he had done for her last night. She smiled remembering waking up this morning and feeling confused how she got to her bed from the rooftop with Hunter. When she realized he had carried her down to bed and tucked her in... she felt touched by him caring for her that way. She was about to pull up the argyle couch throw blanket back over him but found herself hesitate.

Instead, she reached out and started gently tracing the zig zagging lines of tattoos on his back in wonderment. He still didn't wake up at her touch. Lindy allowed herself to stare fully taking in his exterior. Usually she just held eye contact with him and didn't allow herself to stare anywhere else. She didn't want him to feel that it bothered her at all... which it really didn't. It seemed the more time they spent together the more she forgot it was even there.

She had to admit, though, she _was_ curious, and felt compelled to explore it. She reached out and lightly caressed the side of his poor scarred face. Her fingers slowly touched the long, deep, red, line that extended from the edge of his mouth past his ear. _Ouch._ That one looked like it was so painful and her heart cringed in sympathy. She wondered how it all happened. Knives? Maybe a car accident... with a fire and broken glass. Was this part of why his mom just left? Unanswered questions she didn't dare ask.

 _It didn't matter to her._

She wondered about the back story of his tattoos. There were so many. Did he do them on purpose... or were they forced on him involuntarily? People could do some pretty messed up, evil things to others. _His Dad, maybe?_ She hoped that wasn't the case. No. It was probably just his own statement to the world. They felt sort of beautiful to her in a haunting, mysterious way.

Suddenly, Kyle's eyes blinked open waking up from his short snooze. He was surprised he fell asleep and even more surprised to wake up to the sensation of her touching him. Was he really awake? Was this a dream? Was she touching his skin? Yes, he was awake...and yes, she was actually touching him. The realization sank in that the throw blanket had slipped down and he was exposing so much to her. But she was not intimidated. He closed his eyes again and just enjoyed the sensation of her finger tips just gently caressing his freakish skin. He was so touch starved, he froze his body position afraid that if he moved, she would stop.

Her fingertips continued to trace the tattoos. He felt his breathing start increasing rapidly... and this time it wasn't from the pain strikes. His heart rate increased in arrousal as the tips of her fingers gently explored all the strange zig zagging lines on his back. Her touch felt amazing on his skin... his ugly, messed up skin... his untouchable skin yet she wasn't afraid to touch it.

"Hey... thank you," he breathed quietly, letting her know he had woken up...and didn't mind. _Please don't stop_ , he thought to himself.

"No problem... you know, this one reminds me of one night I saw the coolest lightning storm ever... unfortunately I was out on the streets again looking for my missing Dad so I couldn't fully enjoy it. It was kind of awkward having to look back forth from the sky to the street. But what I _did_ get to see was amazing. Gotta love those intense thunderstorms here in the city. Oh man, my Dad and I came home so soaked that night."

"Yeah? You're so good to him. You're such a good daughter looking out for him."

"Yeah well, I'm all he's got now. One of us has gotta keep our shit together."

Her fingers traced around the area where she had applied the ice pack. She noticed there some kind of fancy script there but it was difficult to read. She squinted at it. Then she took the liberty to lean in to it to have a closer look. There was multiple words in cursive writing kind of swirled together. She asked,

"Does this one say... self mutilated tatted, frankenskank?"

Kyle jerked his body upright in surprise, made a fist and tried not to punch the couch. Damn it, Kendra. He made a growling sound at yet another fucking humiliating tattoo. _Noooo!_ This time discovered by the very person he wanted to see it last. Ugh. Why? This was _not_ helping his cause.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized that sure enough, there _was_ a slight tingling sensation there on his shoulder. He must of just tuned it out. It was somewhat disturbing he had learned to tune it out. He probably tuned it out when Lindy was touching him and was focused on her touch. He reached up quickly and touched his shoulder. Yep, another lame ass, mocking tattoo. Gee, _Thanks, Kendra. Thanks for nothing._

He grabbed at the throw blanket in frustration and rewrapped it around his shoulders. "Yeah, um, just.. just never mind that," he responded angrily.

Lindy had backed off a little by scooting herself away from him on the couch.

"Oh. Um, I'm sorry. I shouldn't of asked. Really, "she said.

Kyle rolled his eyes and shook his head. He sighed and tried to reassure her,

"No, no, it's okay... I um, I know you're just curious. I'm uh, I just can't... I can't talk about it right now."

Lindy slowly stood up from the couch. She felt bad for asking him and wished she hadn't asked at all. Damn, she didn't mean to cause such awkwardness. She felt bad for waking him. He obviously needed to rest.

"That's fine. Um, you know, I'm going to head back upstairs... it's late... I'm sorry I woke you up. I should let you get some sleep."

"No wait. Please. Don't go. I didn't mean to scare you or scare you away. You, you didn't say anything wrong," trying to reassure her. He secretly regretted letting his anger hadn't gotten the better of him.

"Um. All right." Lindy said cautiously.

He managed to give her a half smile, reached out a hand towards her and then rested it on couch cushion... hoping she'd sit back there. Lindy slowly sat back down and laid her hand gently over his hand. Lindy looked him directly in the eyes and said,

"For the record... you don't scare me, Hunter."

"I'm glad. Sometimes 'I' scare me," he snickered.

There had been countless times throughout this ordeal when he would walk into the bathroom first thing in the morning and literally scare himself looking in the mirror. He forgot this nightmare had all happened. Ugh, how he hated the terrible, sinking feeling in his gut when he realized this was his reality now.

"It's not all about the outside," Lindy said.

"Yeah, I've heard that. I know. Believe me... now more than ever."

"It doesn't bother me, really."

Then Lindy did something that shocked him. She lifted his hand and kissed it. Kyle's eyes widened and he felt an explosion of feelings for her burst inside his chest. How could she do that? Did that really just happen? He lifted his jaw back up after it had involuntary dropped in response. His heartbeat started racing again.

"Thank you, Lindy." He managed to whisper in between his heavy breaths... not sure what else to say. They locked gazes with each other. It reminded him of their moment in the greenhouse together after reading _Having A Coke With You._ He felt like he could do this forever. He wished he could do this forever. Oh man, how he loved her beautiful eyes. They were so perfect.

He loved how he felt safe with her. He loved that he never saw fear or disgust looking back at him. He loved how her smile put his troubled soul at ease. He loved how her sweet, caring hand on his made him feel amazing not ugly. He _loved her_. He really loved her... more than anything or anyone ever. Would he ever be able to express it enough in his old fashion, long, sappy love letters to her?

Lindy scooted back close to him on the couch. She reached up her other hand, smiled and caressed his cheek. His eyes closed and he soaked in the sensation. He breathed heavily. He opened his eyes and felt himself slowly leaning toward her face. _Oh gosh, how he wanted her._ Kyle couldn't believe this was finally happening. He wanted to kiss her lips so bad. This could be it. Maybe the curse could be lifted at last.

She would be so surprised to see him change to "Kyle Kingston" she knew before. Ugh... that prick of a guy who was such an asshole to everyone. He felt his heart sink and cringe thinking of how Lindy deserved so much more than either Kyle or Hunter. The two options were both just terrible such a beautiful girl like her. She really deserved so much better. He hesitated. Oh how he _wanted to lean in and kiss her more than anything he had ever wished for._ What if she didn't want to kiss him back? Would he be pushing himself on her or making her feel unsafe?

The doubts swirled in his head and he paused. He didn't want to push himself on her... it still seemed so impossible she could feel the same way about him. He had always wanted her to feel safe here. This could blow everything if she didn't reciprocate his feelings. Then again... what about the possibility of the curse being broken right away if he just went for it and kissed her? Freedom from being trapped in this hell was so close at hand.

 _No. Not here. Not yet._ He decided he still needed to "ratchet up the romance" like Will had suggested. Remembering his conversation in the greenhouse with Will and Zola yesterday... he asked her,

"Would... would you like to go on a little trip to my Dad's lake cottage... it's um, just north of the city?"

"A Lake cottage? Seriously?"

"Yeah, I'm serious. I already asked Will about it and he totally doesn't mind putting our studies on hold for a bit."

"That sounds rad! Yes! When would we leave?"

"Uh.. we could have one of my Dad's limos take us after breakfast if you want to go right away?"

"Yes! That would be awesome."

"Just a few days? It's supposed to be good weather there."

"Sure! Oh my gosh, Hunter, I'm so excited. I've never been outside the city. I'm going to go pack!"

Lindy whisked away from the couch and left the room with an excited little squeak. Kyle smiled at her enthusiasm over it and listened to her footsteps hurry upstairs. He hoped the trip would be the perfect romantic setting for them.


End file.
